Case Study- Finding and Repairing a Burst Water Pipe

We received a job via our online booking form about a burst water pipe that supplies a block of units in Essendon. Our plumber, Dave, was able to call the customer and explain how to turn the water supply off before he arrived, which would prevent further damage to the property.

By quickly asking the customer the below basic questions, Dave was able to determine whether the block of units were:

1) Individually metered

2) Bulk metered

3) Both individually and bulk metered.

As it turned out, each unit had its own water meter located at the front of each unit and a bulk water meter located at the front of the property behind the brick letter boxes. Dave then talked the customer through turning off the water by turning the isolation tap clockwise. The customer turned it off as tight as he could and told Dave the leak out of the ground had slowed right down to a trickle and was no longer flowing down the driveway.

Plumber arrives on site

When Dave arrived, he was shown the area and could see the location in the garden bed where the pipe had been leaking. Through briefly turning the water supply back on, he was quickly able to determine where to dig without needing to use burst pipe location equipment. The advantage of the water being shut off so quickly meant the area that needed to be dug up to locate and repair the pipe wasn’t flooded. This makes it easier, faster and cleaner to repair.

Repairing the pipe

Digging up and repairing a burst water pipe can often be the easiest part of the job, locating the burst can be the more difficult part. As this burst was in a garden bed and not under concrete, Dave hand dug the area to locate and expose what was a burst copper pipe. It was the 25 mm copper water supply, which feeds the properties bulk water meter, that had split and was leaking. Often if copper pipe is installed with a crease or dent, it can cause a weak spot in the pipe and can burst years later.  A small section of copper pipe needed to be cut out and removed, and a new section installed.

Once repaired, Dave turned the water back on and tested for any leaking pipes before backfilling the trench and cleaning up the site.

Happy Customer

The customer called our office when Dave had finished the job to comment on how professional Dave had been, from the first phone call to completing the job. They mentioned how they couldn’t tell that anybody had been there, as Dave had cleaned up the site so well. He was over the moon with the fact it was attended to and fixed within 2 hours.

Some Water Supply History

Older units, flats and townhouses often used to only be metered by a bulk meter located at the front of the property. The body corporate would divide up the water bill equally amongst the number of dwellings on the property. The issue with this method was, once costs started to increase, it made no difference to your water bill whether you had 1 person in the home or 5 people. It wasn’t until the 1990s and early 2000s that the installation of individual water meters became popular and then mandatory.

Contact Us

Essendon Plumbing Services has an experienced team of licensed plumbing professionals ready to repair burst water pipes in Melbourne. Whatever your plumbing issue, if you’re looking for a fast and reliable 24/7 master plumber, then call us 1300 193 298 or book online.